Hello, there! Sorry for the late update! I was in a lazy mode to download this chapter... Zzz...
Standard Disclaimer Apply... again.
Chapter 3: Past and Future
"Okaa-san…" a thirteen year-old girl called out softly. Making a woman glanced back to her.
The girl's expression was pained. Very pained. Totally different from the face that she usually showed to others.
"Why do you let yourself be beaten by Otou-san? Why did you protect me from him? The only thing that will happen is that you will get more wounds…" Her voice slurred.
"Sakura-chan, sweetheart." The woman bent down and soothed her. "Do you love your father?"
The reaction took more than a minute. Hesitantly, the girl nodded.
"I know that, my dear. You're a ninja. You are stronger than him, that's for sure. But you never hit him back when he hit you, right?" The woman said with a smile in her beautiful face. "Why was that?"
"…he's my father…" the girl answered slowly. Her voice was barely audible. "No matter how badly he conducts himself, regardless how cruel he is, he's still my father."
"You're right." As she said so, she stood up.
"Okaa-san!" she shouted. "Don't go there! He'll beat you again! I…" Tears trickled down her usually happy face. "I don't want to see you beaten…"
"He's my husband." The woman stated flatly, although other feelings could be seen rather plainly in her stoic face.
"Because he IS your husband, he shouldn't beat you!" she persisted. "If you want to go there, I'll accompany you!"
The woman threw herself to a sitting position beside her daughter. As she did so, she dragged her daughter to the same sitting position beside her.
"Sakura," she said, smiling. "I'll tell you a secret." The girl's eyes widened innocently, asking for the secret without words. The last of her childlike innocence, after tonight.
"I… love you so much," the woman stated soothingly, still smiling. "How could a mother lead her beloved daughter to such danger?"
When the girl opened her mouth to argue, the older one cut her off.
"I love your smile very much. It's not like I don't love you when you're not smiling, but I love your smile most. Live with that smile." Her voice was soft and calming.
"Don't cry." She was still smiling. The smile was still there.
Even the next day, when the girl saw her mother's bloodied corpse, somehow, the smile was still there. Just for her...
--------------------------------------------------
WHIP!
She bit her lips to keep from crying out. Her tears already leaked from her bunched eyelids. She had held it in much too long.
"You know when your night time's over, right? Little girl?" The man spoke harshly. Silence answered him. The strong alcohol smell smothered the kunoichi. It filled her nose, burning her nostrils. "So why are you late?"
…he's my father… Sakura repeated the words inside her head.
WHIP!
Another wound. Blood trickled down from the skin that kissed the whip. Her silent chant kept her from fighting back.
No matter how badly he conducts himself… She chanted in her brain.
WHIP! "I have always wanted a son," he muttered under his breath and alcohol effect. "But what I got from your mother is just a bitch like you!"
One closed wound opened again. It hurt so badly. But it hurt more inside.
Regardless how cruel he is… Anything. Anything to cease the pain.
WHIP! "You shouldn't be here. You shouldn't be born."
…he's still my father. Another tear fell. She couldn't help it.
WHIP!
Tears blurred her vision. Somehow, in that chaos, she saw her mother. Her beloved mother. The only woman she loved with all her heart.
"Let me tell you a secret."
Mother…
WHIP!
Blood. Blood. Blood.
"I love you so much…"
I love you too…
WHIP!
Red. Red. Red.
Sorry, I never said that before. I never had a chance.
WHIP!
Pain. Pain. Pain.
Mother…
WHIP!
That was all she could see. That was all she could feel.
Why must you die?
WHIP!
The pain was beyond her imagination. Both in her heart and her body.
WHIP!
She remembered his face. The sharingan user's face.
Sasuke… how did he know?
WHIP!
Sasuke…
Darkness had begun to overtake her, taking her away from the pain, about to make her numb, when she heard a voice. A voice that she knew so well.
--------------------------------------------------
Naruto and Sasuke ran as fast as they could towards Sakura's house. Naruto cursed under his breath over and over. Regretting that he didn't realize this before.
"Naruto… may I stay at your house tonight?"
"Really? Really Sakura-chan? Sure! Eh? But why?"
"This is too dark… My father will be angry. I shouldn't come home late…"
And as for Sasuke, he remembered the moment when he offered himself to take her home at night.
"You're not allowed to pass the gate, okay?"
They were in front of the gate in instant. Naruto opened his mouth to scream. But someone's voice cut him off.
"SAKURA!" Sasuke shouted angrily.
Without thinking twice, Sakura swiftly made her way outside the door and ran towards Sasuke. Immediately, she hugged him, tying her arms around his waist, and sobbed incoherently on his muscular chest. On instinct, Sasuke quickly wrapped his arms around her small, delicate body and held her tightly.
Shit… she hasn't cried in front of me since I've back… not even once…
"Don't… sob report… sob Tsunade-sama… sob Otou-san…" He could feel her hot tears soak through the cloth on his chest.
…he's my father…
That's all she could say before she fainted into his embrace. She fell to the dungeon of darkness. It was black… and black alone. But somehow, she felt warm, she felt safe.
--------------------------------------------------
"Uh…" she groaned. With effort, she tried to lift her eyelids.
When Sakura opened her eyes, she was greeted by Naruto's panicked voice.
"Oh my god! Sakura-chan! Are you okay? We were so worried about you!" His bright blue eyes were so close to hers, and she couldn't help but smile at her friends concern.
She blinked once, then twice in confusion. And then she remembered it all. She was on a verge of tears. That was until when she looked at her body.
As if by magic, no ugly scar marred on her skin. The horrible wounds that was painting around her skin all had been, somehow, erased.As if she was untouched at all. She could do that, of course. And since she could do it, the only one who could do it besides her was just Tsunade, her own teacher.
"We worried about you!"
Who are 'we'…?
As if from far distance, she heard Naruto calling the other two men team members.
"She's awake! Oh, thank god, she's awake!" A few footsteps sounded from the outside, and when she lifted her head, she saw Sasuke and Kakashi near the door.
Naruto smiled, satisfied. "Sasuke! It's your turn to take care of her! I've already been here for hours! I want ramen!" And without agreement from the other boy, he left. Leaving a thick trail of dust. And when they could see the room clearly once more, they found that Kakashi already melted out of sight.
For a moment, their eyes collided with each other, and they quickly threw their gaze aside.
Without any words, Sasuke dragged a chair beside the bed and sat.
Silence. Silence filled the small white room with thousands of unspoken questions. When the silence was too much for one to bear, Sakura opened her mouth.
"How many days was I asleep?" she spoke up.
"Two days full." Asleep? She called that 'asleep'? Well, that's true Godaime had given her chloroform to do the medical things, but she had fainted, for god's sake!
"Oh…" Silence again. Neither Sakura nor Sasuke liked this uncomfortable silence. Usually Sasuke appreciated the peaceful wordlessness between them in the morning. But not this kind of stiff, heavy silence. It was so unpleasant.
"…" Despite her request, Sasuke told the Godaime all he knew, and her father was arrested for sure. He knew Sakura didn't want to hear it. But she would know. Sooner or later.
"Your father…" he began. Sakura's head whipped at these words. She had wanted to ask him about it, but she didn't have enough guts to do so. A blush crept up her face when she remembered how she had asked him to hide her father's unpleasant behaviours.
"He was arrested." He paused for a while. "I know you had asked me not to do so, but that was for your own good," he continued, trying to ignore the look on her face.
"I see…" she couldn't blame him. She just… couldn't. He had helped her. That was no way she could blame him. But she felt guilty for her own father.
As if reading her mind, he spoke, "He doesn't need your pity. He doesn't deserve it."
A small, hesitant nod answered him. Somehow, the atmosphere inside the room felt much better than before.
--------------------------------------------------
"I will stay at my house." Sakura stated clearly.
Team seven was in the Hokage office. They were discussing about where Sakura would stay. Godaime told her to live somewhere else. But Sakura rejected her request.
"No, you won't," Godaime replied calmly. "I won't let you. Too many bad memories for you there. You won't move forward any if you still wake up with those memories. Forget about them."
"I won't forget them. I won't." She replied stubbornly.
No, I won't forget. If I forget her… it means that she's really dead, right?
"Well, I can't forbid you to remember them. But at least move away from the bad memories. Move away from your house. In addition, I will make your house for the secret meeting place if you move."
"…where should I live?" Finally, the young kunoichi gave in.
"Uhm… in your team-mate's house." Tsunade answered after thinking for a while.
"Whose?" she asked in confusion. And yet, she hoped that she would stay at the certain person's house. At her certain team mate's house.
But… she thought afterwards, I think it'll bother him. So… well, maybe his house is good as well.
"My house! My house!" Naruto jumped up and down repeatedly. Tsunade ignored him completely.
Her golden eyes moved to Kakashi. Kakashi, as usual, read his beloved Icha Icha Paradise. His visible part of face reddened when he read one scene from the book.
I WON'T let my student live with that pervert! She will be in danger!
The same eyes moved to Naruto, who still jumped up and down with the big grin in his idiotic face.
No, of course not, he's worse.
The woman sannin had decided then. "You will live…"
Sakura opened her mouth. "Listen, I won't mind if I live in Naruto's…"
"…with Uchiha Sasuke."
The final decision was taken.
Uhh... getting angsty here, aren't we? Or not? This story will be a long one compared to my other stories, I think. But I'm about entering my A-level! How could you expect me to update often! Desperate here, don't hear me. Everyone hates school...
Review, please?